Do What You Love

I am a member of a career club called CareerWorks Catalyst. You can read all about our club on ABCNews.com at http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/JobClub/comments?type=story&id=6139042. A past meeting included a presentation from Cynthia P. Clark from Career Quest Coaching, Inc. (reach Cynthia at careerquestcoaching at gmail.com). She had a great presentation on “Finding Work You Love: The Key to True Job Satisfaction.” The key was determining what job satisfaction means to us individually. This included, doing work we find rewarding, using skills that we enjoy and at which we are accomplished, work in an environment and with peers we respect and enjoy.

I am a member of a career club called CareerWorks Catalyst. You can read all about our club on ABCNews.com: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/JobClub/comments?type=story&id=6139042. A past meeting included a presentation from Cynthia P. Clark from Career Quest Coaching, Inc. (reach Cynthia at careerquestcoaching at gmail.com). She had a great presentation on “Finding Work You Love: The Key to True Job Satisfaction.” The key was determining what job satisfaction means to us individually. This included, doing work we find rewarding, using skills that we enjoy and at which we are accomplished, work in an environment and with peers we respect and enjoy.
The group completed several resume exercises that demonstrated that we might actually be selling ourselves on work we don’t want to continue doing based purely upon our past jobs and responsibilities. She urged us to emphasize those skills and traits we do want to use in future positions and how to best highlight them on a resume.
Focus on favored accomplishments and keep those items as the top three bullets on our resume, search for job postings that reflect these relevant experiences, and write our resume accordingly to sell ourselves into the position. To all of the comeback moms looking for a new career, have you determined exactly what you want to do as you start a new year job search? I suggest taking the time to record past jobs, volunteer positions and things you enjoy as a mom and search for positions that utilize those skills. In addition, keep asking all the kids what they want to be when they grow up. It gives adults great career ideas.

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Comments

Hey there Comeback Mom!
Good info here. I think a lot of women are not clear on what they want to do. Start listing out what you’ve liked in your jobs, how you choose to spend your free time, what you dreamed about doing as a child then find the common thread. Don’t be afraid to dream…and dream BIG!!!
Remember, if you keep doing the same thing, you’ll get the same results!
Namaste,
Toi

Hi Toi,
Thanks for posting some great information on how to determine what you love. I agree, Dream BIG.
I just clicked through to your site: http://tblbodywork.com/aboutus.aspx
Fabulous! It is clear that you are doing what you love. All the best with TBL Bodywork. I believe for you, great success.
Namaste,
Janine

Thanks for such a great article — really makes me wish I could have attended the presentation in person. I especially enjoyed Cynthia’s reminder that “doing what you love” can mean something different to everyone and that she emphaized some of the ways in which this applies (great food for thought).
I realize that in the current economy (not to mention the treacherous job market) it is tempting for many of us to grasp at the first offer/opportunity that comes along — I encourage everyone who has the means to find a way to bring something meaningful into your career (whatever that may be). Life is too short & work days, on average, are far too long to be concentraiting so much effort on things with far too little return.

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